Peter had not fought other Spider-Men many times, but fortunately, he was highly experienced in battling symbiotes. Furthermore, there was no doubt that this local Spider-Man was no longer leaning toward being a hero, but had fully embraced being Venom.
Additionally, Peter was carrying far too many stacked buffs. As a result, he quickly gained the upper hand in the fight. With a single punch, he sent the symbiote covering the opponent's face flying, or with a casual strike, caused the symbiote on the other man's body to fall into a state of frenzy.
However, none of this was Peter's true objective.
While Peter himself had seemingly forgotten her presence, Gwen was perched on the side of a nearby building, watching the one-sided battle. She held a smartphone in one hand, following instructions to operate a device. This instrument had been co-created by Fitz and Simmons of the Airbus team, designed specifically to intercept and analyze communication signals between symbiotes.
During their analysis of Carnage samples, they had proposed a hypothesis: if different symbiotes could locate one another by sending signals, did it mean that every molecule of Carnage communicated in a similar fashion?
This was the real reason Peter had come here. On one hand, the Symbiote Spider-Man of this universe possessed a structure similar to Carnage. On the other hand, Peter had a much larger script in play; he had already integrated the entirety of New York into a part of his own hive mind.
Therefore, cracking the characteristics of the enemy before them was the key to cracking all enemies of this type. Gwen's role was to provide real-time oversight.
"The translator isn't working. It looks like even though they use signal transmission, the meanings are entirely different," Gwen lamented as she looked at the signals she had received. After the Klyntar symbiotes freed themselves from Knull's era, their communication evolved from a simple hive mind into something differentiated, giving birth to a "telepathic" language unique to them.
However, Knull—or rather, the Symbiote Codex—had no need for such things. Thus, while Gwen intercepted the signals, she had no way of deciphering them.
As she monitored the situation and kept an eye on her surroundings, she suddenly noticed others rapidly approaching. A glance revealed the symbiote-enhanced Rhino and Scorpion closing in.
Gwen thought for a moment and decided to try something else first—Mysterio's helmet.
Indeed, the first solution Peter had thought of was using the new version of the Mysterio helmet to see if it could directly interfere with Cletus or other similar enemies. After all, the prototype for the new helmet was the Danger Room, and the Danger Room relied on telepathy to construct illusions.
What if it could be used against symbiotes?
To achieve this, she first had to understand how to use human thought to intervene in the symbiote consciousness network, which was where the S.H.I.E.L.D. equipment came in. Now, Gwen felt she had collected enough data, so she stood up and decided to act.
"Let's give this a try."
As Gwen spoke, she pulled back her hood and put on the Mysterio helmet. She used an illusion to disguise herself as a standard Mysterio agent and quickly approached the two villains. When the duo saw "Mysterio" rushing toward them, they didn't pay much mind, though Scorpion asked a sudden question.
"Quentin, why haven't you gotten a symbiote? Did you not ask the boss for one?"
"Boss? You mean Spider-Man?" the "Mysterio" asked in return. "I thought you guys were planning to take him out. Since when did you become Spider-Man's lackeys?"
Rhino was still charging forward blindly, but Scorpion immediately sensed something was wrong. He whipped his tail toward "Mysterio," but unfortunately, he only struck an illusion. He immediately shouted to Rhino, "Watch out! There's something wrong with this Mysterio!"
Wait, even my own shouting might be a hallucination. Maybe I didn't say anything at all, but because of Mysterio's powers, I only think I did!
Realizing this possibility, Scorpion immediately switched to the symbiote's visual mode. All symbiotes shared a collective consciousness, which meant that nearby symbiotes could see Mysterio from a range beyond his interference.
Scorpion allowed a smile to creep onto his face.
In the next second, for reasons unknown, the symbiote on Scorpion's body lost control. He was slammed against a wall, looking at his surroundings in total confusion: What happened to my symbiote? Why did it suddenly go haywire?
An even more bewildered Rhino walked over and helped pry Scorpion off the wall. "Mate, what's going on with you?"
"I don't know. It felt like I tripped in an instant, and the symbiote on my body just exploded." Scorpion rubbed his head in confusion, then looked at Rhino blankly. "Why did we stop here?"
Neither could explain the situation, so they immediately got back on their way. Meanwhile, Gwen, still disguised as Mysterio, began her second attempt. She deactivated her ability and then targeted them again with Mysterio's illusions. She was trying everything possible to use the helmet to contact the sensations between the symbiotes, but she failed again.
This time, Scorpion and Rhino spotted Gwen again, along with the chaotic illusions she had conjured. Both attacked Gwen simultaneously, only to end up crashing into each other. They stood there, puzzled as to why there were so many burning cars around them.
"I guess we hit something?"
It was Rhino who spoke this time. After all, he didn't remember hitting any cars, nor did he remember why he had collided with Scorpion. After thinking carefully, he could only come to one conclusion: he must have slipped.
Hidden off to the side, Gwen complained.
"Can this thing actually be used on symbiotes? Why is it that no matter how I use it, it only affects the hosts?" After using her abilities twice to avoid unnecessary combat, Gwen took out the device to continue her rapid testing, but there was still no effect. The data was indeed piling up, but the practical results remained at zero.
Could it be that human thought truly cannot interfere with symbiotes?
Just as Gwen was expressing her confusion, she saw a new figure approaching the battlefield. This person was neither someone controlled by this universe's Symbiote Spider-Man—like Black Cat—nor was it a member of the resistance sent by S.H.I.E.L.D. On the contrary, it was someone who was perhaps not that surprising to see.
Gwen had never met this person, only knowing the basic information. In her field of vision, she saw a crimson symbiote rapidly closing in on Peter's location.
"It's actually Carnage—the Carnage of this universe. Does he intend to intervene in the fight between Peter and that... Peter Parker?"
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